Residents Decry Slow 94th Response Time to Accident

An accident involving a car and a bicyclist Thursday night has Greenpointers furious at the response time of the 94th precinct.

Around 10:30PM on August 9th, a 15 year old on a BMX bicycle rode through a stop sign at Bayard Street and Graham Avenue and was struck by a livery cab. Witnesses say there was no way the car’s driver could have avoided the cyclist who was conscious and bleeding from his head when help arrived.

Greenpoint resident Greg Abelians heard the crash, ran out of his home to see what happened and called 911. EMS and the fire department showed up within minutes, Abelians said, but there was no response from the police. While the paramedics were treating the cyclist, whose condition could not be confirmed at press time, a man, believed to be a relative of the cyclist arrived at the scene and attacked the cab driver, punching him in the face. Abelians called 911 again, while EMT and FDNY responders broke up the attack. The relative jumped into a dark colored Jeep and took off before police arrived at 11:05, nearly 35 minutes after the accident.

Witness accounts say onlookers were stunned by the lack of response by the precinct. According to police reports, the initial 911 call came in at 10:39 and the second at 10:48. An NYPD source said that all on-duty officers were responding to other calls at the time of the accident and since the victim was being attended to, the incident was not given priority status. “Shame on them,” said Abelians to this explanation.

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